Adjustable rail brace



Jan, 3, 1967 s. T. MARGIN ADJUSTABLE RAIL BRACE Filed D60. 14, 1964 NVENTOR `ZLe/0/7en 7.' Marc/'n United States Patent O 3,295,761 ADJUSTABLE RAIL BRACE Stephen T. Marcin, Bethlehem, lia., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Bethlehem Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dee. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 417,910 6 Claims. (Cl. 23g-292) This invention relates generally to apparatus for bracing and securing railway rails, and specifically to an adjustable apparatus for bracing running or guard rails associated with railways.

In railway track construction, the rails must be readily attachable and detachable with respect to the tie plates while at the same time the rails must be firmly braced at all times while they are in use. It is often required to brace guard rails in such manner that the said guard rails can be placed between the rail brace and a chock, and can be removed from between the rail brace and the chock, all in a generally vertical direction without the necessity for twisting the rail to clear the chock and rail brace. At switches, the running rail must be braced on that side of the running rail opposite the switch point. Furthermore, the rail must not be braced in such a manner as to introduce overturning moments thereon by reaction with the apparatus used to brace the rail.

One o-f the objects of this invention is to provide rail brace apparatus.

Another object of this invention is to provide adjustable rail brace apparatus.

A further object of this invention is to provide adjustable rail brace apparatus which permits the rail to be placed into position between a chock and the rail brace, and to be removed from between the chock and the rail brace, in a generally vertical direction without the necessity for twisting the rail to clear the chock and the rail brace.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide adjustable rail brace apparatus which avoids the introduction of overturning moments in the rail.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide adjustable rail brace apparatus which is of simple, yet serviceable, construction.

I have discovered that the foregoing objects can be attained by providing an adjustable rail brace apparatus comprising, briefly, a wedge brace element which can be removed completely away from the rail in a direction oblique to the longitudinal axis thereof and which braces the rail at the side of the head of the rail to avoid overturning moments.

Referring to the drawings:

FlGURE l represents a View in plan of the invention, showing the adjustable rail brace applied to a guard rail.

FIGURE 2 represents a view in elevation of the adjustable rail brace, taken along the line 2-2 of FIG- URE l.

FGURE 3 represents a View in plan of the tie plate.

FIGURE 4 represents a perspective view of the brace elements.

FIGURE 5 represents an enlarged vertical section taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

Running rail 1 and guard rail 2 are mounted in recessed seats 3 and 4l, respectively, of metal tie plate 5, the latter being provided with spike holes 6 for use in the customary manner with spikes 7 to secure metal tie plate 5 to a wooden tie 8. Chock 9 is inserted between the said rails 1 and 2 to maintain the desired angeway therebetween as is known in the art.

Metal tie plate 5 is provided with block 1li secured thereto in any suitable manner, as by Welding, oblique to the longitudinal axis of guard rail 2 to dene a vertical wedging face 11 horizontally spaced from the said guard rail 2.

ICC

Elongated openings or slots 12 are provided in metal tie plate 5, spaced from each other and aligned in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of guard rail 2. Shoulders 13 are formed in the upper portions of slots 12, extending inwardly thereof to define internal abutments 14, clear apertures 15 being provided at one end of the said slots 12.

In the preferred embodiment, adjustable rail brace 16 is located on that side of guard rail 2 opposite chock 9, and is adapted to brace guard rail 2 against laterally directed forces proceeding from left to right of FIGURES l and 2.

Adjustable rail brace 16 comprises, in addition to the said slots 12 with internal abutments 14 defined by shoulders 13 and with clear apertures 15 as provided in the metal tie plate 5, wedge brace element 1'7.

Wedge brace element 17 is deined by vertically disposed member 18 secured in suitable manner, as by welding, to the central portion of base member 19. It will be noted that, as viewed in plan (FIGURE l), base member 19 is tapered the rear edge 20 thereof being oblique to (i.e., inclined in a horizontal plane relative to) guard rail 2 and parallel to vertical wedging face 11 when in position. It will also be noted that vertically disposed member 18 does not engage the web of guard rail 2 when in position, but rather engages guard rail 2 at the side of the head thereof to resist forces directed laterally from left to right of FIGURES l and 2. Base member 19 is provided with elongated openings or slots 21 which, in the preferred embodiment, extend in a direction parallel to read edge 20 of said base member 19.

Wedge brace element 17 is slidably mounted to metal tie plate 5, fo-r adjustment towards or away from guard rail 2 in a direction oblique to the longitudinal axis of said guard rail 2, by means of bolts 22, spring washers 23, flat washers 24 and nuts 25, the heads 26 of said bolts 22 being passed through the clear apertures 15 of slots 12 and then shifted laterally so as to ride under internal abutments 14, the said heads 26 being drawn up against internal abutments 14 when nuts 25 are screwed down and tightened o-n bolts 22 to bear against base member 19.

In applying the adjustable rail brace 16 to the guard rail 2, after the latter has been placed in position with the chock 9 between the said guard rail 2 and running rail 1, bolts 22 are inserted head iirst through clear apertures 15 of their respective slots 12 and are then shifted towards the other ends of their respective slots 12, their heads 26 riding under the internal abutments 14 and over wo-oden tie 8. Wedge brace element 17 is then placed over bolts 22, so that the latter extend through slots 21; fiat washers 24 and spring washers 23 are mounted on bolts 22, and nuts 25 are screwed down only partially on bolts 22, so as to permit the wedge brace element 17 to be adjusted in position relative to guard rail 2. At this point, the said wedge brace element 17 can manually be advanced to engage guard rail 2. rl`hereafter, wedge brace element 17 is struck home by means of a hammer. After wedge brace element 17 has thus been forced against guard rail 2, nuts 25 are tightened, drawing up head 26 into engagement with internal abutments 141.

When it is desired to remove the guard rail 2, nuts 25 are loosened and may be removed. Wedge brace element 17 is driven in the opposite direction suiciently so that vertically disposed members 18 can be lifted clear of guard rail 2. Guard rail 2 is then removed in a generally vertical direction, being shifted slightly to one side to clear chock 9. This can be done without twisting the guard rail 2, which makes the adjustable rail brace 16 particularly useful on curves.

It will be particularly noted that guard rail 2 is supported in a lateral direction by vertically disposed member 13 of the adjustable rail brace 16 engaging the head,

rather than the web, of the said guard rail 2. In this manner, forces directed from left to right of FIGURES 1 and 2 on the head of guard rail 2 are resisted by adjustable rail brace i6 without the introduction of overturning moments on the guard rail 2. If vertically disposed member 18 laterally supported guard rail 2 on the web thereof, rather than on the head thereof as in the present invention and, particularly, if vertically disposed member 18 supported guard rail 2 at the lower portion of the web thereof, forces from left to right of FIGURES l and 2 would subject guard rail 2 to overturning moments acting about a fulcrum which is not the foot of guard rail 2 but rather the point of contact between the web of guard rail 2 and vertically disposed member 18.

Although the invention has been described herein in considerable detail, it is not to be limited to the exact and speciiic details thereof as shown and described, but may include such modifications, substitutions or equivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope of the invention or as pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for bracing a rail having a head, a web and a foot, said apparatus comprising:

(a) a tie plate adapted to support the foot of the rail,

(b) a brace element adapted to be removably secured to said tie plate and placed in bracing relationship to said rail free of the web of said rail, said bracing element comprising:

a vertical face adapted to engage the rail only at the side of the head of the rail,

a face adjacent the lower portion of said brace element adapted to extend over the foot of said rail closely adjacent to but free thereof.

2. Apparatus as in claim l., further comprising:

(c) a second rail horizontally spaced from and parallel to said rst mentioned rail, said second rail being supported by and secured to said tie plate,

(d) a chock interposed between said two rails on that side of said first mentioned rail opposite said brace element, said chock engaging both of said two rails at the intersection f the web of each rail with its respective head and foot.

3. Apparatus for bracing a rail having a head, a web and a foot, said apparatus comprising:

(a) a tie plate adapted to support the foot of the rail,

(b) a brace element adapted to be removably secured to said tie plate and placed in bracing relationship to said rail free of the web of said rail, said bracing element comprising:

a vertical face adapted to engage the rail only at the side ofthe head of the rail,

a projection adjacent the lower portion of said brace element, said projection being adapted to extend beneath the head of the rail and over and closely adjacent to but free of the foot of said rail from the edge of the foot of said rail to a point closely adjacent to but free of the web of said rail.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3, further comprising:

(c) a second rail horizontally spaced from and parallel to said rst mentioned rail, said second rail being supported by and secured to said tie plate,

(d) a chock interposed between said two rails on that side of said lirst mentioned rail opposite said brace element, said chock engaging both of said two rails at the intersection of the web of each rail with its respective head and foot.

S. Apparatus for bracing a rail having a head, a web and a foot, said apparatus comprising:

(a) a tie plate adapted to support the foot of the rail,

(b) a vertical wedging face spaced from said rail and fixedly positioned relative to said tie plate, said vertical wedging face being inclined in a horizontal plane at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of said rail,

(c) a brace element adapted to be placed in bracing relationship to said rail free of the web of said rail and being further adapted to be wedged between said rail and said vertical wedging face, said brace element comprising:

a base member having an edge adapted to engage the vertical wedging face,

a vertically disposed member secured to the medial portion of said base member, said vertically disposed member comprising:

a vertical face adapted to engage the rail only at the side of the head of the rail,

a projection adjacent the lower portion of said vertically disposed member, said projection being adapted to extend beneath the head of the rail and over and closely adjacent to but free of the foot of said rail from the edge of the foot of said rail to a point closely adjacent to but free of the web of said rail,

(d) a pair of first slots in said tie plate, said first slots being horizontally elongated and aligned with respect to each other parallel to the longitudinal axis of said rail, said first slots being horizontally spaced from each other longitudinally of said rail,

(e) a shoulder in the upper portion of the non-adjacent end of said first slot restricting the width of said first slots and deiining internal abutments in said first slots,

(f) ia clear aperture in the adjacent ends of the iirst slots,

(g) a pair of second slots in said base member, said vertically disposed member being located between said second slots, said second slots being inclined in a horizontal plane parallel to said vertical wedging face,

(h) a pair of bolts,

(i) heads on said bolts adapted to be inserted through said clear apertures and shifted towards the nonadjacent ends of said first slots to underlie said internal abutments therein,

(j) said bolts extending through said second slots to slidably mount said brace element to said tie plate,

(k) nuts adapted to be screwed down on said bolts to draw up said heads to engagement with said internal abutments to secure said brace element to said tie plate.

6. Apparatus as in claim 5, further comprising:

(l) a second rail horizontally spaced from and parallel to said first mentioned rail, and second rail being supported by and secured to said tie plate,

(m) a chock interposed between said two rails on that side of said first mentioned rail opposite said brace element, said chock engaging both of said two rails `at the intersection of the web of each rail with its respective head and foot.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,442,014 1/1923 Thompson 238k292 2,235,248 3/1941 Asselin 23S- 17 2,426,138 8/1947 Asselin 238-292 2,944,740 7/196() Burkhardt 23S- 292 3,220,651 11/1965 M'ahood 23 8-292 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR BRACING A RAIL HAVING A HEAD, A WEB AND A FOOT, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: (A) A TIE PLATE ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE FOOT OF THE RAIL, (B) A BRACE ELEMENT ADAPTED TO BE REMOVABLY SECURED TO SAID TIE PLATE AND PLACED IN BRACING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID RAIL FREE OF THE WEB OF SAID RAIL, SAID BRACING ELEMENT COMPRISING: A VERTICAL FACE ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE RAIL ONLY AT THE SIDE OF THE HEAD OF THE RAIL, A FACE ADJACENT THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID BRACE ELEMENT ADAPTED TO EXTEND OVER THE FOOT OF SAID RAIL CLOSELY ADJACENT TO BUT BREE THEREOF. 